Electricity: conductors and insulators – Conduits – cables or conductors – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-20
2001-07-03
Reichard, Dean A. (Department: 2831)
Electricity: conductors and insulators
Conduits, cables or conductors
Combined
C174S07400A, C174S078000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06255590
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of easily and reliably connecting the conductor of a lead wire to the shield of a shielded cable such as a braid. This invention also relates to a shielded cable, with a lead wire connected thereto by the above method.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 6 and 7
show a conventional shield connection means for a shielded cable disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 6-349532.
This connection means, as shown in
FIG. 6
, consists of exposing a shielding braid
32
from a shielded cable
31
, fitting a relay connecting element in the form of a metallic sleeve terminal
33
over the braid
32
and, as shown in
FIG. 7
, inserting a terminal
35
attached at the end of the shielded cable
31
into a connector housing
34
to bring a skirt
37
of the sleeve terminal
33
into contact with a shielding metallic shell
36
of the connector housing
34
.
The terminal
35
is crimped on, and connected to, the conductor
38
of the shielded cable
31
. The conductor
38
is covered with an inner cover
39
. The braid
32
is disposed peripherally around the inner cover
39
and is in turn covered with an outer cover
40
. The connector housing
34
, the terminal
35
and the metallic shell
36
constitute a connector
41
. On fitting a mating connector (not shown) to the connector
41
, the metallic shell
36
, and thus the braid
32
of the shielded cable
31
, are connected to a not-shown metallic shell of the mating connector. The metallic shell
36
is grounded through the braid
32
. It is to be noted here that the braid
32
may be replaced by copper foil, if desired, to constitute the shield.
With the conventional connection means, however, an operator needs to do the troublesome work of peeling the outer cover
40
from the shielded cable
31
to expose the braid
32
and then fitting the sleeve terminal
33
over the braid
32
, resulting many manhours spent in processing the end of the shielded cable
31
. The connection of the braid
32
of the shielded cable
31
to the connector side (to the metallic shell
36
in the present example) has thus been troublesome. Further, due to the structure in which the sleeve terminal
33
is pressed on the braid
32
, these elements tend to become loose relative to each other, resulting in a possible contact failure between them. Likewise, due to the structure in which the skirt
37
of the sleeve terminal
33
resiliently contacts the metallic shell
36
, the force with which the skirt
37
contacts the metallic shell
36
tends to disadvantageously decrease as time elapses. Further, the skirt
37
of the sleeve terminal
33
is susceptible to deformation in case the shielded cable
31
is forcibly swung in a radial direction on
FIG. 7
, resulting in an incomplete contact with the metallic shell
36
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention has been accomplished to overcome the above drawbacks and an object of this invention is to provide a connection method for a shielded cable, which enables, with few manhours, an easy connection between shields of the shielded cable, such as a braid and of the connector, which receives the shielded cable, and which prevents deterioration with time in the contact between the shields, thereby attaining an improved reliability in their electrical connection.
In order to attain the object, according to an aspect of this invention, there is provided a method of connecting a lead wire to a shield of a shielded cable, comprising the steps of: placing a lead wire on a shielded cable; and then subjecting the lead wire and the shielded cable to ultrasonic welding such that a conductor of the lead wire is joined to a shield of the shielded cable.
Preferably, the shielded cable has a first terminal attached thereto and the lead wire has a second terminal attached thereto, and the step of placing the lead wire on the shielded cable comprises inserting the first and second terminals in vertically aligned tiers into a connector housing to place the lead wire in a parallel manner on the shielded cable.
Preferably, the step of ultrasonic welding is effected using an ultrasonic welding horn with a first positioning depression for the shielded cable and a second positioning depression for the lead wire.
Preferably, the second positioning depression for the lead wire is located at a circumferential center of the first positioning depression for the shielded cable.
Preferably, the shield of the shielded cable is a shielding braid.
Preferably, the shield of the shielded cable is copper foil.
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided a shielded cable with a lead wire connected to a shield thereof, the lead wire being connected to the shield by a method comprising the steps of: placing a lead wire on a shielded cable; and then subjecting the lead wire and the shielded cable to ultrasonic welding such that a conductor of the lead wire is joined to a shield of the shielded cable.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3857995 (1974-12-01), Wyrick
patent: 5584122 (1996-12-01), Kato et al.
patent: 5722841 (1998-03-01), Wright
patent: 5821462 (1998-10-01), Raleigh et al.
patent: 5869784 (1999-02-01), Shinchi
patent: 5925202 (1999-07-01), Ide et al.
patent: 5962813 (1999-10-01), Shirako et al.
patent: 6046407 (2000-04-01), Ide
patent: 6072123 (2000-06-01), Ide et al.
patent: 6072124 (2000-06-01), Kato et al.
patent: 5-15359 (1993-02-01), None
patent: 6-349532 (1994-12-01), None
Armstrong Westerman Hattori McLeland & Naughton LLP
Mayo III William H.
Reichard Dean A.
Yazaki -Corporation
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